Sead Haksabanovic's move to Celtic has reportedly edged closer with the Rubin Kazan star believed to have his heart set on heading to Scotland.
The Russian outfit have accepted defeat in their efforts to keep a hold of the Montenegro international, with an urgent need for finances also pushing the imminent departure of the 23-year-old, the Daily Record reports. Ange Postecoglou has had a busy summer in the transfer market, securing permanent deals for Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jota from Tottenham and Benfica after hugely successful loan stints.
Benjamin Siegrist, Alexandro Bernabei, Aaron Mooy and Mortiz Jenz have all arrived in the meantime. Daizen Maeda's initial loan deal is also now permanent.
READ MORE: Former Celtic and Rangers duo face off in Europa Conference League tie and set for return next week
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But the Aussie boss is still in the market looking for further recruits, as they bid to defend the title they won from Rangers last season and make a splash in the Champions League. The winger cost Rubin £5.5million from IFK Norrkoping just 15 months ago - but it's believed they know they won't recoup that fee.
Celtic are one of four other interested European sides eyeing a cut-price deal, with the Scottish champions in the box seat. The Scottish Sun reports that a medical could take place within the next 24 hours.
Club chief Rustem Saimanov admits the 23-year-old will have to go and is just aiming to land the best possible deal for him and team-mate Oliver Abildgaard.
He said: “Of course, they both want to leave. We are in talks with them.
"But we aren’t letting them go for nothing because we want some money for them. Our situation is extremely worrying.
"Our budget has halved. I regard myself as being in a crisis management role.
“Our players all arrive for free now and no club has given us a single penny for transfers. We have been robbed by FIFA and UEFA.
“Everyone says that we have a big budget, but we also have big obligations. All this eats up money.
“Then we have obligations on loans that we don’t want, but you need to repay. We thought we could sell our best players for money which we didn’t get, the TV rights are down too.
"We budgeted for all this and got nothing.”
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